Orihuela (Spanish pronunciation: [oriˈwela], Valencian:Oriola[oɾiˈɔla])[2] is a city and municipality located at the feet of the Sierra de Orihuela mountains in the province of Alicante, Spain. The city of Orihuela had a population of 33,943 inhabitants at the beginning of 2013. The municipality has a total area of 367.19 km², and stretches all the way down to the Mediterranean coast, west of Torrevieja, and had a total population of 92,000 inhabitants at the beginning of 2013. This includes not only the city of Orihuela, but also the coastal tourist centre (urbanización turística) of Dehesa de Campoamor with 33,277 inhabitants (2013) and a few other villages.[1]

The river Segura flows through the city. The city was settled by Romans who called it Orcelis and subsequently Aurariola.

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Orihuela is the capital of the region of the "Vega Baja del Segura" (natural region of the Segura River); it has been the capital of a province and even of a kingdom. The city was named the first city of the province of Alicante, 11 September 1437.

In 576 it was the capital of the Visigothic province of Aurariola, to which it gave its name. In 713 (5 April) the military man and Count Teodomiro, proclaimed himself King of Tudmir.

1799 Orihuela was part of the province of Alicante. In 1810, Napoleon made Orihuela part of the Department of Segura with the capital at Murcia. In 1822, Orihuela passed to the province of Murcia. 1833 it became part of the province of Alicante. In 1920 nationalistic movements spoke of Orihuela as belonging to the "country of Murcia."

Between 1988 and 2006 various research studies from the Universities of Andalusia, Castile and Murcia demonstrated that Orihuela was more culturally part of Murcia than Valencia in terms of phonetics, lexicon, architecture, agriculture, folclore, musical celebrations, instruments, language, burial customs, gastronomy and varieties.

In recent years, there has been growing support for the "independence" of Orihuela Costa (Dehesa de Campoamor) from Orihuela itself. This is due to the perception among the largely foreign born population of Orihuela Costa that they are being unfairly treated by the local government. For example the Orihuela Costa's share in the 2010-2014 municipal budget was 6x less than that for the city itself, or 4,2% of the 295 million € budget, even though the Costa creates around 30% of municipal tax income.[3][4]

The municipality had a total population of 92,000 inhabitants at the beginning of 2013, of which the city of Orihuela only accommodated 33,943 of them. Another major locality within the municipality is the tourist centre of Dehesa de Campoamor, also known as Orihuela Costa, located on the coast, more than 20 km from Orihuela. It had 33,277 inhabitants at the beginning of 2013. Only 59.6% of the local population are Spanish, the British account for almost 20%, followed by the Irish, Bulgarians and Moroccans, with around 3% each. In total there are people from 106 different nationalities currently living in Orihuela.[5]

The agriculture of Orihuela is based on lemons, oranges, almonds, olives, palm trees, pomegranates, cotton, hemp and vegetables. It also has an important industry of silk, wool and preserved food. The tourism industry is today the single most important sector in the economy, and as been the main engine of growth for Orihuela in the 21st Century.

The most important architectural monuments of Orihuela are an Arabic castle with its towers, a Catholiccathedral built between the 14th and 16th centuries and the Baroque church of Santo Domingo. While staying in this municipality, it is imperative to visit the monumental city. Its Historic-Artistic Site has five National Monuments and an urban layout that is the result of its former rank as a University Centre and Episcopal See. We must highlight two of its holiday celebrations: the processions of Holy Week, and the parades of Moors and Christians, in July.

In September 2012 the shopping mall, La Zenia Boulevard opened its doors. La Zenia Boulevard is the largest shopping mall in the Costa Blanca and Costa Cálida region with 150 stores and 20 restaurants and bars, all of whom are open 362 days a year. It soon proved to be a great success with nearly 50,000 daily visitors in the summertime and employing around 1,700 people.[6]